Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device which holds an endotracheal tube securely at one side of a patient's mouth to provide a temporary air passage between the lungs and atmosphere when the mouth, throat, or trachea are obstructed. The invention is particularly constructed so that it can be affixed so as to be positively located and held at one side of a patient's cheek area, and has a clamp for holding the endotracheal tube at this one side of the person's mouth so that should the person become nauseous and should stomach contents be aspirated, the mucus, foods and fluids vomited will be free to flow from the person's mouth in such a way that the device will cause a minimum amount of impairment in the free flow of the aspirated materials for discharge from the person's mouth.
Heretofore, a number of different devices have been known for securing an endotracheal tube within a patient's tracheal lumen, and these prior art devices have been so constructed and used that the endotracheal tube and tube holding device would be centered on a person's mouth beneath the person's nose rather than being positioned at one side of the mouth. Such prior art devices can be found in a number of different teachings in the prior art, and attention is called to a few of these patents which show a variety of these types of devices, as follows:
______________________________________ Inventor's Title U.S. Pat. Name of Patent No. ______________________________________ James O. Elam Esophago-Pharyngeal 4,090,518 Airway Mark A. Shaffer et al Endotracheal Tube 4,326,515 Retainer Anthony V. Beran Tube Holder 4,392,857 Carmelo Dali Nasal Cannula 4,367,735 ______________________________________
The intention is believed to be an improvement over those previously above identified patented devices which are here presented to show the general state of the art. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a new and improved device that can be used to secure an endotracheal tube in such a way that the endotracheal tube will be extended through a person's mouth at one side of the mouth so that if regurgitation occurs, the potential danger that the stomach's contents might be aspirated into the lungs can be substantially minimized since the regurgitated contents can flow more freely from a person's mouth where the device for holding the endotracheal tube is located on one side of a person's mouth rather than in the middle or beneath the nose.